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Amid uproar, Karnataka Assembly passes Bill to split Bangalore civic body

Members of Janata Dal (S) and BJP objected to the introduction of the Bill, while a case is still pending in the High Court.

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The Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill was passed in the Legislative Assembly on April 20.
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The Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday passed the Karnataka Municipal Corporations (Amendment) Bill aimed at trifurcating the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), despite strong opposition from BJP and Janata Dal (Secular).

However, the Bill failed to get the approval of the Legislative Council. Both the lower and upper houses have been adjourned till April 22.

TB Jayachandra, Minister for law and parliamentary affairs, introduced the Bill in the Assembly, during the one-day special session convened to get approval from legislature. The Bill is proposed to split the BBMP into three divisions.

Members of Janata Dal (S) and BJP objected to the introduction of the Bill, while a case is still pending in the High Court. However, the speaker, Kagodu Thimmappa made it clear that the legislature has the right to make laws and amendments to existing Bills.

HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) questioned the logic in introducing the Bill to amend the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act. He said that state government had no vision and commitment for the development of the city. At this juncture, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah intervened and said the need of the hour was to trifurcate the BBMP to ensure better administration and transparency. “I can’t understand the logic behind the opposition of BJP members to the proposal of trifurcating BBMP. They were in favour of division of BBMP when BJP was in power,” he said.

This comment provoked Jagadish Shettar, leader of opposition, to blame the state government for introducing the Bill to trifurcate BBMP and in the process postpone the elections. “Congress is wary of contesting the BBMP council elections. They are afraid of defeat, hence they are trying to postpone elections,’’ Shettar said.

Resuming his speech, Kumaraswamy said, “The government alleges that the BBMP administration has become inefficient. It is citing Comptroller and Auditor General Report on the scams in BBMP. These scams took place when the civic body was headed by an administrator. The department of urban development has sent notices to 198 corporators on financial mismanagement within BBMP. How come the corporators are being held responsible for financial irregularities? It is the commissioner, appointed by the state government, who looks after the administration of BBMP.’’

For the longer version of the report, click here

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